A 2-year-old…Akita dog was referred to the Auburn University Small Animal Clinic because of lethargy, progressive loss of vision, and bilateral enlargement of the globes of approximately 3 months duration. Depigmentation of the eyelids, nose, and scrotum had started 3 weeks earlier.

Biopsies from pigmented areas showed melanin-containing histiocytes and plasma cells. And apparently this wasn’t even the first case: researchers had already reported 2 other cases in Akitas in Japan.